Imagine an apple "Pristine Inner Experience" by Hulburt (a review)
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Oct 5, 2025 Explore the fascinating world of our inner experiences! Discover how Russell Hurlburt's Descriptive Experience Sampling method sheds light on unsymbolized thinking and the vivid variability in our thoughts. Learn about the intriguing differences between normal experiences and those shaped by conditions like schizophrenia. The conversation touches on the personal findings from self-sampling and how this technique can enhance introspection. Dive into the rich sensory details of expert performance, like guitar playing, and join the hosts in exploring your own inner landscape.
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Pristine Sampling Reveals Raw Experience
- Russell Hurlburt's Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) aims to capture 'pristine' inner experience by randomly sampling moments rather than retrospective summary.
- This preserves raw, in-the-moment phenomenology and reduces memory and cultural bias.
Five Core Modalities Of Inner Life
- Hurlburt discovered five common phenomena across samples: inner speech, inner scene, feelings, unsymbolized thinking, and sensory awareness.
- These categories emerged from interviews rather than being imposed beforehand.
Sinking Into The Floor Example
- Hurlburt recorded a subject who phenomenally felt her legs sink into the library floor while remaining physically seated.
- He labels such vivid events micro-psychotic experiences that reveal surprising lived phenomena.
